A variety of indoor and outdoor products require flexible, transparent, and weather resistant plastic resins and films. Existing commercial resins comprising fluorine-containing polymers or aliphatic thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) deliver the performance required by such indoor and outdoor products. However such resins are prohibitively expensive for the majority of end uses. Low cost alternative resins are available, such as polyvinylchloride (PVC) resins containing plasticizer and polyethylene resins. However, such resins also present drawbacks, such as failure to meet all of the performance requirements and/or undesirable environmental impact.
Acrylic films made from existing resins manufactured via free radical polymerization process are generally too rigid for certain end use applications, possess high moduli and poor tear resistance. One commercial acrylic resin currently available contains block copolymers of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and polybutylacrylate (PBA) and is produced by an anionic polymerization process. Such commercial resins possess excellent flexibility and whitening resistance. However, the method of producing this resin is very expensive, resulting in a resin cost which is prohibitive for many applications.